CALS was proud to host our partners at Embrace: The Movement for Mothers yesterday for the launch of their birth survey report on the nature and prevalence of #ObstetricViolence in Gauteng and KZN
You can find the full report here: embrace.org.za/birth/
Join us next week as we host Embrace, the Movement for Mothers for the launch of their birth study exposing the nature and prevalence of #ObstetricViolence in Gauteng and KZN
📅 11 March 2026
🕘 9:00 - 12:00
📍 Chalsty Centre
🔗 m.youtube.com/channel/UC5L...
Join us for the online launch of the “Handbook on Business, Human Rights, and the Environment in Africa” featuring editor Jean-Claude N. Ashukem and moderated by Charmika Samaradiwakera Wijesundara
📅 20 March 2026
🕚 11:00
📍 MS Teams
🔗 Register here: bit.ly/40tnF0k
Wishing everyone writing exams this week the very best of luck!
Our director Christopher Gevers on the limits of self-defence under international law:
“The requirement is not that a state has dangerous capabilities. It is that an armed attack is imminent. [This does not] include long-term or speculative threats.”
I joined the Embrace movement for the #LaundryDay protest outside of DoH. Obstetric violence is GBV!
Our director Prof Christopher Gevers discusses the conflict in the Middle East, weighing in on the legality of the strikes under international law
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiyr...
CALS was proud to join Embrace today for #LaundryDay, where we protested outside the Department of Health to draw attention to #ObstetricViolence
Read the memorandum submitted here: www.wits.ac.za/news/sources...
Our Thuto Gabaphethe and Lulama Madyaka discuss why South Africa is far from meeting its 2030 targets for land reform.
As a member of @escrnet.bsky.social, CALS is intervening in litigation to address government's failures around land reform.
Read more: www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/...
The top 16 teams have been selected for this year's Public Interest Law Moot Court Competition!
Find a full list of everyone through to the next round of virtual oral argument in the #PILMOOT here: www.wits.ac.za/news/sources...
Unlawful arrests or detentions cost the South African Police Service (SAPS) over R620-million in 2024/25, according to an answer in Parliament by Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia.
Read groundup.org.za/article/the-... by GroundUp and The Outilier.
"The persistent conflation of the IHRA definition of Jewishness with Zionism harms not only Palestinians but also Jewish people, by suggesting that the illegal and abusive actions of the State of Israel are inherently Jewish — an antisemitic notion." groundup.org.za/article/what...
At 33, Edwin Cameron thought he had maybe 7 years left. At 73, the former Concourt justice is still here — a living testament to the power of activism that made #HIVTreatment accessible in South Africa. Read our profile by Tanya Pampalone and Mia Malan. mailchi.mp/bhekisisa.or...
In case you missed it: Our Sheena Swemmer on the #Mbenenge report
“In the end, our Constitution does not pretend that power, history and inequality disappear in the name of neutrality. It insists that they matter, especially in cases of sexual harm.”
www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026...
Reminder: We are partnering with Brunel University, UENF and the @britishacademy.bsky.social for an in-person and online conference on the protection of people threatened with death
📅 Deadline for abstracts: 15 February 2026
🔗 Find our more: wits.ac.za/news/sources...
Essential reading: Our Dr Sheena Swemmer unpacks the finding of the #Mbenenge sexual harassment tribunal, its impact and how it understand neutrality, bias and power
Reminder: We are calling for abstracts on evidence on the protection of people threatened with death
📅 Deadline for submission: 15 February 2026
🔗 Find out more: www.wits.ac.za/news/sources...
In case you missed it: Our Lulama Madyaka makes the case for an African treaty to address human rights abuses by corporations on the continent
www.news24.com/opinions/ana...
Call for abstracts: People threatened with death
In partnership with @Bruneluni, @uenf and the @BritishAcademy_, CALS is co-hosting a conference on programmes and policies protecting witnesses and activists under threat
Read the full call for abstracts: www.wits.ac.za/news/sources...
The top 32 teams have been selected from over 400 entered into this year's Public Interest Law Moot Court Competition!
Find a full list of everyone through to the next round of the #PILMOOT here: www.wits.ac.za/news/sources...
CALS founding director Prof John Dugard SC has been awarded the 2026 Olof Palme Prize along with Dr Navi Pillay for their outstanding contribution to the defence of fundamental human rights.
Find out more: palmefonden.se/en/pristagar...
A huge thank you to everyone who has registered for this year's Public Interest Law Moot Court Competition!
Well over 400 teams have entered this year's #PILMOOT
Our judges are working hard at marking and we will announce the top 32 teams moving onto the next round shortly
CALS wishes all our friends, partners and colleagues a happy end to 2025! Thank you for all your support throughout the year.
We will have a limited number of staff on duty for the rest of December and will return from 5 January 2026.
Catch up on recent CALS highlights in the latest edition of our quarterly newsletter: payg.rocketseed.net/public/messa...
Or sign up for future editions here: www.wits.ac.za/cals/cals-qu...
The course also aims to open academic spaces to activists as one of the few programmes in the environmental justice sector that offers formal certification.
The short course is designed to deepen activists' understanding of climate-related legal frameworks, strengthen their use of legal and non-legal levers for change and enhance their advocacy skills.
This week, CALS is partnering with @lhr-sa.bsky.social and Wits Plus on our #ClimateJustice short course!
This year the course is being offered to an all-women group of activists for the first time. Participants have joined us from mining, farming and fishing communities around the country.
As #16DaysOfActivism gets underway, our Dr Sheena Swemmer discusses administrative violence:
“When the justice system disregards its own duties and deadlines, it does more than delay; it shows a profound indifference to the lives caught in its machinery.”
mg.co.za/thought-lead...
CALS will be in the Constitutional Court next Tuesday for a case with important implications for the right to water and the functioning of the South African Human Rights Commission
We are represented in the matter by in-house counsel Jatheen Bhima
Find out more: www.wits.ac.za/news/sources...
Our Busisiwe Kamolane-Kgadima is representing CALS at the #G20 Social Summit this week. We are focusing on the themes:
1. Inclusive climate justice, a just transition and energy democracy; and
2. Building momentum for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063
